By Doug Manners

HARRISONBURG - A subgroup of Gov. Bob McDonnell's Economic Development and Jobs Creation Committee met Wednesday in Harrisonburg to discuss how to ensure that Virginia has a work force that matches opportunities for employees with the needs of employers in the future.

The work force development subgroup spent four hours at National College's Harrisonburg campus listening to three presentations and discussing strategies that will be submitted later this month to Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, the state's chief jobs creation officer and the committee's co-chairman.

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Also serving on the subgroup with the task of helping to answer that question is: chairman Bob Leber, who retired recently as director of education and work force development at Northrop Grumman; James W. Dyke, partner at the law firm of McGuireWoods and secretary of education under Gov. Douglas Wilder; Helen Dragas, president and CEO of the Dragas Companies; Christine Chmura, president and chief economist of Chmura Economics and Analytics; and Del. Kathy Byron, R-Lynchburg, co-owner of B&B Presentations. Byron was absent from Wednesday's meeting.

Work force development is one of nine subgroups on the Economic Development and Jobs Creation Committee, which McDonnell created with his first executive order on inauguration day. The committee includes Cabinet secretaries, legislators and business leaders from across the state.

Matching Degrees, Jobs

Developing a strategy to increase the number of Virginians who earn higher-education degrees created the most discussion among subgroup members Wednesday.

During his campaign, McDonnell said he planned to commit Virginia to awarding 100,000 additional four-year and community college degrees in the next 15 years.

But the solution to creating an adaptable work force requires more than just an influx of college graduates, Chmura noted. The key, she said, is producing more graduates with degrees in growing fields.

"We have to create degrees in the direction that the jobs are going," Dyke said in agreement. "That'll give [people] even more incentive to get a degree."

Chmura alluded to the ACT's 2009 college and career readiness report, which showed that job openings and students' interests don't coincide in Virginia. For example, computer/information specialties had the most projected job openings, but only 3 percent of students identified that as a career interest.

"There's a mismatch there," Chmura said.

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